We’ve seen temperatures rise this summer, hitting record highs. As summer develops and schools break up, more people head outdoors to enjoy the hot weather. But when the mercury rises, inevitably so do the number of calls to police.

Sunny days and heat waves are welcome for many of us, and I certainly am a bit of a sun-worshipper, but the summer months can also bring additional challenges for emergency services. We’ve already seen this play out in recent heatwaves.

Southwest Ambulance Service Trust (which covers our county) reported experiencing its busiest day on record recently, receiving more than 5,200 calls to its ‘999’ control rooms, and managing more than 4,300 incidents in a single day.

The Trust said demand was driven by extreme hot weather during a Red Heat-Health Alert. It reported a 34 per cent increase in demand on what would normally be expected at that time of year.

It’s not much different here in policing. In June 2026, Gloucestershire experienced a Red Extreme Heat Warning on Wednesday 24 June and Thursday 25 June. On those two days alone Gloucestershire’s Force Control Room received 744 calls to ‘999’ and 971 calls to 101. That’s 1,715 people in Gloucestershire calling the police in just two days.

So far in July the constabulary has received more than 11,000 emergency ‘999’ calls, which is a 16 per cent increase on July last year. In fact, together with 101 calls they have received more than 25,000 calls that month, and that averages over 800 calls a day. Far more than the 638 calls a day we’ve averaged over the past three years.

In July 2026, UKHSA issued Amber HeatHealth Alerts for parts of England, including the Southwest on 12–15 July. In that time frame there were 1,436 calls to ‘999’ and 2,120 calls to 101. That’s another 3,556 people calling the police in the heatwave.

While we can’t say it’s purely the heat, our demand in summer always increases. Let’s not forget the impact of the Football World Cup too. Large events like this, busy town centres and increased travel can all place additional pressure on policing resources.

Behind the scenes, hardworking control room staff work around the clock to answer calls, assess risk and ensure officers are deployed where they are needed most.

Every call is important, and teams work incredibly hard to respond to emergencies as quickly as possible, often dealing with multiple critical incidents at the same time. Despite increasing workloads, the vast majority of ‘999’ calls are still answered in less than 10 seconds, and 101 calls in less than two minutes.

If a crime is happening now, someone is in immediate danger, or there is a threat to life, always call ‘999’.

For non-emergency matters, such as reporting a historical crime, please use 101 or report online wherever possible. Many incidents and concerns can be reported quickly and easily through the Constabulary’s website, helping to keep phone lines free for those who need urgent assistance.